Hi everyone, I have been using foamboard, you know the stuff you can mount posters to, to create stone walls and structures. This is an easy and inexpensive way to create retaining walls or stone buildings (I am also experimenting with making wood structures with it but will do a separate thread on that one!). I really like the results and want to share the technique with you from start to finish. Since buildings are what I have been working on, we will start there. Also, this technique is NOT limited to O scale. Try it at your scale and see if it will work for you too! The first thing you will need is a sheet of posterboard (foamboard) from your local craft shop or Walmart. These come in various sizes and colors. My suggestion is that you pick a color that is close to what you will be painting/staining the finished product. Having said this, any of the colors will do and I tend to work either in white or black just depending on what is available. You will also need a ready supply of NEW hobby knife blades (I use Exacto #11). Also have either paint or your favorite base stain ready and weathering chalks. I have used paint, ink, and shoe polish. All give different results but none of the results are bad. For paint I use water-based acrylique. The example I will give you here is done with India ink and chalks. STEP 1: measure out your wall, mark and score the mark with your blade (foamboard is covered with paper so should be scored before you cut). Cut out your wall form: You may need to sand the areas you have cut. If so use fine sandpaper to smooth things down and square them up. STEP 2: Start carving! This is time consuming but stick with it, the results are worth it. Some things to remember; stone buildings have larger stones at the bottom and progressively get smaller toward the top. Start at the BOTTOM of the wall for a base course. Pick a stone size that is no more than 3 feet in length and 2 feet high for this base course. This will set the size as you go up. Also, if you are making a "random" stone wall such as mine are, use your imagination in carving shapes...try to keep it random! When cutting, the deeper you go the more 3-D the effect. However a word of warning: if you cut too deep it will weaken the wall and cause it to bow (requiring you to insert wire for strength/keeping the wall ture): Note the notch on the right side of the photo. This is the first notch I cut for my "dovetail" to make my wall corners. This allows an easy fit and strong bond in the corners. Keep the cut as square as possible and make sure each of the dovetail notches is the same size (depth). Step 3: DETAIL! My wall will retain some plaster and will have a bricked up window. You surely do not need to do this and if you want a completely stone wall just keep carving one course after another until you are to the top! To do the plaster, I first drew it out on the wall with pencil, then scored it. Once the shape was done, I simply did not carve inside the "plaster" line. The window was measured out, scored and then cut all the way around. I then "popped" out the interior of the cut so there would depth and a sill. If you are doing windows, carve smaller, even stones around it, and maybe some thin tabular sill stones below and above:
PART 2 Here is another shot with some India Ink staining to give a better idea of the window: Step 4: Painting/Staining/Weathering Once your stone is carved you can now begin to add color. The photo above was done with black ink. I like it because it grays down nicely against the white foambaord. Note how shiney it is though! Once the wall has received several coats of ink (to your own personal color taste) it is best to mix up some weathering chalks in grays, browns, tans, and rusts. I try to do a complete covering of gray to dull the wall down, then do different colors on as many stones as I have patience for. Browns are best as the offset the gray nicely. Once I have the color I want, I spray the wall with Testors Dullcoat and let it dry lying flat. I repeat this process for as many walls as I need. I add final detail like styrene bricks in the window. and thats how to make walls! If you are gluing walls together as I do, make sure you use cement that is foam friendly...hate to see all that hard work ruined by foam-eating glue! I simply use white glue in the dovetail joints, rubberband together and let dry. If the joints don't fit tight, try gently "mushing" them together...the foamboard is really forgiving that way! Anyway, I look forward to comments and questions, otherwise enjoy!!
Can you carve "wooden boards" or "cinder blocks" or other type material in it? I was also thinking about steel plates or concrete slabs?
YES! I am experimenting with wood planking and even clapboarding. I have also carved wood floors. This stuff is really diverse and you may be able to carve all of these things into it.
Wood and Doors from Foamboard Here is a shot of the wood floor for the Silver Dollar Saloon. I even was able to do nail holes! The color was done with brown shoe polish which gives a nice blonde wood color and even has a shine to it! The bar and bar back are also foamboard. Note the door. It was measured to scale, scored and carved in. Real strip wood was used to frame it. Here is the door from the outside. Again I simply measured it out and carved it in. Door handles are the heads of straight pins. I used acrilique paint as a wash. Hope this helps to inspire you!
Interesting technique, John. I have used foamcore to make building mockups, but hadn't really thought about it as a final material. But I do have a couple of questions. You say "score and carve". Does this mean that you first score the stone pattern with something blunt, then come back and carve with an exacto knife, actually cutting through the paper layer? Similar question to the door (for example). Again you say "scored and carved in". For the carved part, do you actually remove part of the paper? Over the whole door area, just at the door panels, something else? By the way, great looking saloon. Very similar to the style of buildings I need for my layout. Thanks Ed .
When I say "score" I guess what I mean is to take the tip of the Exacto and lightly cut the paper along the stone or door outline. This "breaks the seal" of the paper and allows a deeper cut without tearing the paper off. In terms of the door panels, I have done it both by removing the paper and by simply cutting the door shape. I like the latter of these and that is what you see in the picture. The reason is that once the paper is removed you see the porous foam underneath and it is a bit more difficult (but not impossible!) to make this look like wood or stone. BTW, I carve each stone individually, one at a time and let the "pattern" take its own path along the wall, rather than drawing the whole thing out ahead of time. I hope to make my next structure soon. It will be foamboard made to look like wood. I will keep you all posted on the progress of that one!
